Walters: Post-Rosie 'The View' will thrive

NEW YORK, May 29 (UPI) -- "The View" post-Rosie O'Donnell will be fine, said Barbara Walters, co-host and executive producer of the ABC daytime talk show in New York.

"It's been quite a week, as all of you know," Walters said at the start of Tuesday's program. "This makes us very sad."

"The View," she said, "was a hot show for 10 years and it's going to be a hot show for many years" to come.

O'Donnell abruptly left the show last week after several heated exchanges with co-host Elizabeth Hasselbeck. She was scheduled to leave the show in June when her contract expired.

Walters told the audience she and O'Donnell had exchanged e-mails during the weekend.

Hasselbeck also said she and O'Donnell were "in communication a lot" during the weekend.

"And I think this weekend gave us the opportunity to tackle our most important hot topic yet, and that was the power of forgiveness," Hasselbeck said. "I believe we have begun that process."

However, O'Donnell said on her video blog Saturday she had not talked with Hasselbeck and "I probably won't."

"I wrote her an e-mail; she wrote me back, and there you have it," she said.